God — Even In The Eye Of The Hurricane
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesIn the last few years, we’ve seen major storms in the southeastern United States, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean. Hurricane after hurricane has torn through the region, leaving dozens of people dead and thousands homeless. Catastrophes like these remind us of our frailty and humanity.
Although we may be able to give hurricanes anthropomorphic names like Charley, Frances, Ivan and Katrina, and although we may have advanced technologically to the point where we can track hurricanes by satellite and anticipate their movements with some small degree of accuracy, there still remains the fact that man is utterly incapable of controlling these forces, much less stopping them.
Hurricanes prove to us that no matter how intelligent or powerful we think we are, there are still many things in God’s universe that are more powerful than we are. For all our ability to bend elements of nature for our own benefit, such as damming rivers and building supersonic jet aircraft that appear to defy gravity — in reality, we still have no command over nature at all.
Our awe of natural forces should put us in awe of the One who does indeed control the forces of nature, and is its Creator (Hebrews 1:1-3; cf. Colossians 1:17). As imposing as the power of a hurricane may be, it pales in comparison with the power of the God who spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1:3; cf. Psalm 33:6-9; John 1:1-3; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:12-16; Hebrews 1:2-3).
On numerous occasions in the biblical record, God used His mastery of the elements to remind man of His supremacy. For example, think of the series of miraculous demonstrations the Lord wrought through Moses, for the purpose of humbling the Pharaoh of Egypt — rivers changed into blood (Exodus 7:19-21) — pestilence consisting of frogs, lice, flies, and locusts appeared from nowhere (Exodus 8:1-24; Exodus 10:12-15) — heavy hail pelted the earth (Exodus 9:22-25) — extreme darkness enveloped the sky (Exodus 10:21-23). Although Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated a few of these feats, it soon became apparent that their chicanery was no match for the true power of Almighty God (Exodus 7:8-12).
Let’s also remember that when Elijah the prophet’s confidence fell to a low ebb, God provided him similar proof:
“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12).
Elijah needed to be reminded that no matter how great the enemies against him appeared, the God who stood with him was more powerful than all, as Jesus Himself later showed when He stilled a storm with only three words — “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39).
Dear reader, however great the storm we face, whether it’s in the eye of the hurricane, or facing the day-to-day problems of life — our God is greater. If we trust in Him, there is no force in all the world we need to fear (Romans 8:28-39; cf. Psalm 27:1; Psalm 118:6; Hebrews 13:5-6).